Dental attachment



c. N. REESE. DENTAL ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17, 1919- 13473555, Patented July 27, 1920.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES REESE. OF VVILMETTE, ILLINOIS.

DENTAL ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 17, 19 19. SerialNo. 345,636.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES N. Itnnsn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmette, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

It has been the practice in the past in dental work to secure a saddle or other dental plate rigidly to an adjacent crown. This practice is objectionable because the tissue beneath the plate naturally yields when pressure is applied to the plate as in chewing, and consequently the rigid connection prevents the artificial teeth from yielding with the tissue like the natural teeth and sooner or later this connection breaks down or loosens the crown.

It is the object of my invention to provide a dental attachment of simple form whereby a dental plate may be detachably and yieldingly connected with one or more crowns so that the plate may yield with the attachment under pressure without affecting the crowns or the connections.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention in which- Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a saddle connected by my invention to an abutment crown and a palatine bar connected by my invention to an oppositely disposed crown;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the saddle;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing one end of the saddle and the crown to which it is connected;

Fig. 4: is a sectional view on the line 4.4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4; 7

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1; g

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Figs. 8-11 are enlarged detail views illustrating the parts of the attachment.

Referring to the drawings, the attachment comprises two members 12, 13, which, in this particular embodiment may be conveniently referred to as the attaching or movable member and the stationary or anchor member, respectively. The attaching member 12 is angular in form and comprises a skeleton base 14 and two prongs 15 which are connected at their upper ends by a crossbar 15 and are provided at their lower ends with oppositely disposed inwardly projecting lugs 16 spaced apart (Fig. 8). The stationary member 13 has a wide inner plate 17 to be soldered to a crown, a connecting web 18 and a narrow outer plate 19, the member being substantially T-shaped in cross section (Fig. 9). The attaching member is slidably engaged with the stationary member, the lugs 16 being positioned in the grooves formed between the inner faces 01 the plate 17, 19, and yieldingly engaging the Y web. The prongs 15 are spaced apart sufiiciently to clear the plate 19 and. in attached position they rest against the plate 17. The lugs 16 are preferably rectangular in cross section and are adapted to fit rather snugly againstrthe web. To facilitate the operation of engaging the attaching member with the stationary member I prefer to taper the Web at its outer end 18 so that the lugs-16 may be readily engaged therewith, and I also prefer to knurl or otherwise roughen the sides of the web 18 to assist in retaining the plate in place.

In the drawings I have shown a stationary I or anchor plate 13 secured by soldering or otherwise to an abutment crown 20 and an attaching member 12 rigidly embedded in one end of a saddle 21; also a stationary or anchor plate 13 secured by soldering or otherwise to an oppositely disposed crown 22 and an attaching member embedded in one end of a .pal'atine bar 23, the other end 01 which is rigid with the saddle.

The drawings show a saddle connected with two crowns and illustrate how the invention can be embodied to anchor a plate to an-abutment crown and by a bar to an oppositely disposed crown and it will be readily understood that I contemplate embodying the invention in any-form and inany combinations and for all dentures, appliances or plates in which and for which it may be adapted, and Ireserve the right so to do.

In practice the attaching member is preferably made of an alloy of gold and platinum which will not lose its resiliency under heat when the member is soldered to a saddle or other dental part. The anchor member is soldered or otherwise secured to a crown or other fixed part. Then the parts are connected as described. This may be easily accomplished and the construction is so simple that no especial skill is required Patented July 27, 1920. v

to remove or insert the denture, and this may be done by the wearer whenever and as often as desired.

An important feature of my invention is that it holds the denture yieldingly in place so that it will yield in a natural manner with the tissue beneath it. This is advantageous in many ways; it is a comfort to the wearer, it tends to keep the gum in a normal condition, it maintains a close contact of the denture with the tissue, and it avoids strain on the crown and the liability of injury thereto. The lugs 16 fit sufliciently snug in the grooves of the stationary anchor member to maintain the two members in engagement and in proper relative position, the prongs bear against'the stationary anchor member and prevent the denture from tilting away from the tissue. The lugs 16, being locatedadjacent the bottom of the prongs and the bend in the attaching member constitute pivots on which the denture may move with the tissue under pressure and without causing any strain on the connection or on the crown. The denture may not only move directly against the tissue under pressure, but it may have a limited lateral movement in either direction and, in fact, any movement which may be required under all normal conditions. lVhen properly set the upper ends of the prongs engage the anchor member and prevent movement of the denture against the crown or outward away from the tissuep The attachment holds the denture securely and yieldingly in proper place in the oral cavity to permit it to conform with the tissues under any pressure'to which they may be subjected in a normal manner.

My invention is capable of embodiment in various forms and it may be adapted for connecting a variety of dental parts, and hence I do not by the foregoing description and the drawings intend to limit myself to the particular form, construction and adaptation of parts therein disclosed, but I reserve the right to vary the form and adapt it to as many other dentures as may be comprehended by the scope of the following claims.

I claim: j

1. An attachment of the character described comprising an anchor member, and an attaching member having a base and a pair of angularly disposed prongs, and lugs on the prongs for'pivotally engaging the attaching member to the anchor member.

2. An attachment of the character described comprising an anchor member, and an attaching member having a base, a pair of angularly disposed prongs, and a pair of inwardly directed lugs on said prongs to pivotally engage the attaching member to the anchor member.

3. An attachment of the character described comprising an anchor member having oppositely disposed grooves, and an attaching member having a base, prongs projecting from the base to bear against said anchor member, and lugs on said prongs, adjacent the base, to engage said grooves and form a pivotal connection of the attaching member to the anchor member.

4. An attachment of the character described comprising an anchor member having a wide plate, a narrow plate and a web connecting said plates, and an attaching member comprising a base, a pair of prongs, and lugs on the prongs to en age the web and pivotally connect the attaching member to the anchormcmber, said prongs being adapted to bear against said wide plate and to swing clear of said narrow plate.

5. An attachment of the character described comprising a stationary member adapted to be rigidly secured to a crown or other anchor part, a movable member adapted to be rigidly secured to a denture, and means for pivotallyconnecting the movable member to the stationary. member to permit the denture to move under pressure a limited distance inwardly with the tissue upon which the denture rests and restrain said denture from moving outwardly away from the tissue.

6. An attachment of the character described comprising a stationary member adapted to be rigidly secured to a crown or other anchor part and having oppositely disposed grooves, a movablemember ada )ted to be rigidly secured to a denture and comprising lugs to slidably engage the grooves for pivotally connecting the movable member to the stationary member, and prongs extending above the lugs to engage the stationary member and prevent movement of the denture away from the tissue upon which it rests while permitting the denture to move with the tissue under compression.

CHARLES N REESE. Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT, M. A. Krnnrn. 

